What TV shows suffered in the switch from black and white to color?

I was flipping through a new book called Andy and Don, about the friendship between Andy Griffith and Don Knotts over many decades, and I noticed a passage which said The Andy Griffith Show suffered in the B&W to color switch, because Mayberry looked underpopulated and like a set instead of a real town. Also, IMO, The Fugitive (which I used to watch on TV Land and now I got the complete collection for $58.99) was grittier in B & W, it didn't seem the same in color.

Any other examples?

On the other hand, a show like Gilligan's Island should never have been in B & W.

BTW, I'm not referring to a coincidental drop in quality, like The Lucy Show, because of cast and plot changes. This is about the look of the show in question.

 

I'm not sure The Andy Griffith Show wasn't more of a coincidental drop, for not only did Don Knotts leave the series the year in went to color, there was also a big turnover behind the camera with changes in producers and much of the writing staff...

 

I actually like the the look of the Man from U.N.C.L.E. in B&W better.

 

One show that really suffered was Quinn Martin's 12 O'CLOCK HIGH. The series had been built around a lot of stock World War II air footage that was all in black and white, so when they switched to color, a lot of that footage was tinted blue.

LOST IN SPACE looked a lot phonier in color. Their planet set had an element of grandeur in black & white, but once they switched to color, you could see the phoney backdrops and fake rocks for what they were.

VOYAGE TO THE BOTTOM OF THE SEA suffered in the switch to color, mostly because of budgetary reasons. Stories done in the first black & white season that took place on location were curbed drastically in the latter seasons.

Harry

 

Many of the programs that were hits during the transition to color were goofball comedies which didn't really lose much and actually looked great in color, like I Dream of Jeannie.

This is a tough one, but any of the grittier shows that survived the color transition like Combat and as previously mentioned The Fugitive and The Man from UNCLE are the most obvious choices.

I guess I could more easily think of shows that never made it to color that probably would have suffered if they did. The Twilight Zone. Perry Mason. Leave It to Beaver. But we'll never know.

 

I think that was the main problem with the Andy Griffith Show. The departure of Don Knotts, a comedy genius, was too much. It was a good show but the loss of Knotts was a big blow. The chemistry between Griffith and Knotts was one of the greatest in television history. You cannot replace that.

 

One in that category would have to be THE DICK VAN DYKE SHOW. On the DVD and Blu-ray sets there are a few examples of the main Petrie house set in color and it just looks so wrong. I fear the show would have suffered greatly in color.



Harry

 

While the switch to color didn't change the tone of the show, it did gradually become camper turning that change. Certainly more of a confidence but there you have it.

I disagree with Steve regarding the switch to color The Avengers. I think it helped the show same with The a Wild Wild West. On the other hand Combat and some of the other shows mentioned did suffer--I think, surprisingly, that the fantasy element worked better for me with My Favorite Martian. Likewise, the B&W Combat had more of a gritty feel.

Since we are able to see the shows now--The Avengers improved with the switch from videotape to film. looking back at the Honor Blackman episodes shot in videotapes, they lack the dazzle quality that film gave the series with the use of location photography.

 

The one "Perry Mason" episode filmed in color "The Case of the Twice-Told Twist" is a particularly weak episode, despite the casting of the formidable Victor Buono as a modern day Fagin.

http://www.perrymasontvseries.com/wiki/index.php/EpisodePages/Show262

 

all shows not shot on location suffer ,not to mention Shows with early special effects

 

BEWITCHED in black & white had a classy, motion picturish look about it, as if it were from the classic film era of the 40s. Once it switched to color, it appeared more studio-bound, overlit, and a bit garish.

It looked more like a TV sitcom in color.

 

The Fugitive is the king of this category, with Combat a close second.

For shows that would have been hurt by color: Twilight Zone and Alfred Hitchock are the obvious ones, and maybe you can throw in a moody western like Rawhide, although that show went downhill so fast in its last half-season it probably wouldn't have mattered.

TV color tidbit: I once read that the first season of I Dream Of Jeanie was shot in B&W b/c color would have cost an extra $600 an episode.

Those B&W episodes were seldom sold in syndication. I wonder how much that $18K savings ended up costing the studio. $1M? $2M? $5M?

 

Mission Impossible was better in B&W IMO.

 

I have seen recently F Troop (I know, it is what it is). It seemed to look so much better in color, the outdoor shots look much more vibrant.

 

It might have been good in black & white - but all MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE episodes were filmed and broadcast in color.

Harry

 

LOL. You know what it was? We didn't have a color TV the first year or two! So I remember the first years in black and white.

 

I figured that might be the case.

 

Got to stop doing these things on my phone...that should read coincidence regarding the loss in storytelling quality for The Man from U.N.C.L.E.

As The Wild Wild West became more fantasy based (or you could argue I was the first Steampunk styled show), color helped the series.

I actually thought the lighting for The Avengers was pretty good.

 

I agree about Combat, The Fugitive, and The Man From U.N.C.L.E., but I'm not sure about those listed in your last paragraph. Here's my reasoning: Hazel, which transitioned from B&W to color after its first season was well done, and the colors and sets looked very nice; not overdone and not too showy. If Leave it to Beaver had been done as well, it could have made the transition easily. Twilight Zone could have been well done provided they paid attention to making it look as good in color as it did in B&W. We did get a taste of how it could have been done in the early '70s with Rod Serling's Night Gallery, which had a very TZ feel to it and color didn't detract from those stories. I also think that Perry Mason could have been done well, but it looks really good in B&W and has a certain Film Noir quality to it, which it would have lost in color. Still there were lots of well done color lawyer shows later on, but they do have a very different feel from the old Perry Mason shows.

 

I'd like to add Bonanza to that list, Steve. That show was in color from its inception in 1958, and looks (or looked) glorious in color. I remember being really impressed at how beautiful it looked on our friends color set back in '62. I think I began bugging my folks to get a color TV from that point on as a result.

 

"Adventures of Superman".

The b&w episodes - especially the first season - have more interesting plots than the later color episodes (which were basically just kiddie fodder).

The b&w episodes also used more of a variety of flying stock shots. The color shows only had a scant few stock shots of Supes flying.

 

The Avengers was the first one to come to mind. Further to what Our Host said it got more comic book in not only look but plotting, although that was the tenor of the swinging, campy '60s and the latter change was probably inevitable.

 

I never knew Combat was switched to color, and I watched it faithfully as a kid. I guess I outgrew it before the switch happened. I'm having a hard time imagining it in color.